This is a sponsored article on behalf of BBC Proms.
Summer in London means many things, but to music lovers one thing trumps all else: the BBC Proms season.
The BBC Proms 2026 are now under way. The iconic First Night of the Proms, a celebration of prog rock, and a sizzling set by the Spanish National Orchestra are among the concerts you've already missed this year.
But hold your FOMO: with a tantalising six weeks left of this year's Proms, there are dozens of shows — and hundreds of magical moments — still to come. We're here to help you narrow down the choices and perfect your Proms experience.
A little primer for those not familiar with the set-up: The BBC Proms is a (predominantly) classical music festival with more than 80 shows taking place between July and September. The majority are at London's most iconic music venue, the Royal Albert Hall (incredible acoustics, and quite the looker too!).
Seats for individual shows start from just £12.20 when booked in advance. Or you can get on-the-day Prommer tickets* for just £8 — that's cheaper than a round down the pub! With a Promming ticket in hand, you can choose between soaring views from the gallery, or the electric atmosphere down in the arena, up close to the performers.
Here's a melodic earful of what we're looking forward to over the coming weeks:
🎻 Elder Conducts Weber's Oberon (6 August): A fresh take on Weber’s final opera — first performed 200 years ago — with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Monteverdi Choir and star soloists adding a sprinkle of wit to this chivalric fantasy of shipwrecks and magic horns, conducted by Sir Mark Elder.
🎻 Evelyn Glennie and the Fantasia Orchestra (11 August): Only at the BBC Proms would you hear music by Duke Ellington, Antonín Dvořák, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Radiohead (plus myriad others) performed in a single show. Grammy Award-winning percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie joins the Fantasia Orchestra and BBC Singers to do the honours.
🎻 Swedish Chamber Orchestra: Beethoven and Baroque (16 August): We're in classic BBC Proms territory, as the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Maverick clarinet virtuoso Martin Fröst takes the audience through a programme of Rameau, Hans Ek, Handel and Bach, peaking with Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.
🎻 The Met Orchestra plays Strauss (26 August): All the way from New York, the Metropolitan Opera's Met Orchestra and Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin team up with celebrated South African soprano Elza van den Heever to dedicate an evening to Strauss, including the final scene of the composer's Salome.
🎻 The Met Orchestra plays Mahler (27 August): Making their journey across the pond worthwhile, the Met Orchestra returns for a second night, joined by Joyce DiDonato for a rousing rendition of Mahler's Rückert-Lieder.
🎻 Ultimate Calm (27 August): A rather special and intimate late-night experience at the Royal Albert Hall, to chill you out just in time for the bank holiday weekend: Scottish composer Erland Cooper and special guests perform a concert of classical and ambient music inspired by Radio 3 Unwind's Ultimate Calm series. Aaaand breathe.
🎻 Altın Gün (28 August): A swerve away from the classical music for which the BBC Proms is known, as Dutch-Turkish psychedelic rock band Altın Gün join forces with special guest Derya Yıldırım, Jules Buckley and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
🎻 Stravinsky and Prokofiev with the Oslo Philharmonic (29 August): Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the Oslo Philharmonic join maverick virtuoso Patricia Kopatchinskaja for Stravinsky's Violin Concerto, alongside Øyvind Torvund's symphonic poem Forest Morning and excerpts from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet.
🎻 Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust (30 August): An international cast of soloists, including American tenor John Osborn, Gerald Finley and Véronique Gens join Jakob Lehmann and period-instrument group Les Siècles in a concert performance which brings to life Berlioz's Dramatic Legend.
This is all just a taster of what's still to come at this year's BBC Proms. We recommend hopping over to the BBC Proms website, checking out the full programme — and booking anything that takes your fancy before it sells out. Whatever you're into, you'll find something that takes your fancy: Bond theme tunes, classic Disney scores, a tribute to Marvin Gaye and a barn-storming celebration of American music are also on the bill.
BBC Proms continue until 12 September 2026, with seats available from just £12.20.
*Promming tickets are standing, though there are accessible Promming options.
